It's more or less been acknowledged that they are toning down the "realistic" look and going for a more stylistic look. After all, one of the big complaints from people was that the engine looked "dated." I don't have a problem with what's been shown so far, but we haven't really seen enough to judge. Especially on the shadows thing.

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.

And lastly -- and potentially most controversially -- BioWare revealed that only the PC version of Dragon Age 2 will feature "strategic combat," with the console versions featuring a new system. "Rather than try to mimic the PC experience on consoles, Dragon Age 2 has a battle system more tailored to the strengths of the PS3 and 360," the GI story reads.

perhaps the overhead camera is still in?

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I finally got my copy of Game Informer. The article didn't have a ton of information, though -

The game begins about the same time DA:O did and takes place over the following ten years. The story will be told in a series of frame stories with various narrators telling tales about Hawke's adventures. You will be able to see the consequences of your decisions in subsequent stories. For instance, whether you choose to save a city from attack will affect the future of the region, and you will see these effects as the narrative progresses.

Your companions react differently to your alignment. They will no longer leave if they don't like you, but they may act hostile or even try to show you up in battle. The developers want to reward players for being consistent rather than telling your party members what they want to hear.

The three classes - mage, warrior, and rogue - will be more distinct in how they play. Also, you'll be able to create not only spell combos as in DA:O, but combos with fighting abilities. The combat in the PC version will be largely the same as DA:O, while the console versions will feature a faster and more fluid variation of the combat seen in the console versions of DA:O. Both versions are being developed separately to play to the strengths of the system.

From the few screenshots, graphics look like a mixed big. The faces look much more natural, and the spell effects and a shot of a dragon look great, but the darkspawn look pretty bad. The developers want to create a unique look for DA2, rather than the generic fantasy look of the original. It's hard to tell whether everyone has giant freak-hands, though

« Last Edit: July 17, 2010, 02:38:45 AM by EddieA »

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

From the few screenshots, graphics look like a mixed big. The faces look much more natural, and the spell effects and a shot of a dragon look great, but the darkspawn look pretty bad. The developers want to create a unique look for DA2, rather than the generic fantasy look of the original. It's hard to tell whether everyone has giant freak-hands, though

I got mine today and also noticed this, and it did look like they had shadows enabled in some pics too. my last hope is they look a lot better in motion.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Snagged from Neogaf. It looks like Bioware is giving the big FU to PC gamers, and stripping out the overhead view from the PC version of Dragon Age II. So basically Dragon Age II is now more focused on being an action RPG, the strategic camera is eliminated, and no toolset will be released::

[Mag] Why did you leave/forsake the "a la Baldur's gate" view on PC of the first Dragon Age?[Mike Laidlaw]For budgetary reasons, we focused our work on a 3rd person view, that asks for very detailed and nice textures so that the player can admire the game with a close-up view. With an aerial view [isometric] we should cover much more ground and so create other textures. Now, the game mainly sold on console, so we're going the way of the audience"

[Mag] Will you release a toolset for DAO 2?[Mike Laidlaw] To be short, DAO 2 will not have a toolset. I think that DAO I toolset is very powerful but very complicated" [Then they speak of the fan made campaigns possibility for DAO 1 (too little time since last November to create full campaigns, it usually takes years (so only "simple" mods have been produced so far, but this is about DAO I and not DAO II). Once again, Mike Laidlaw does not give any detail on the reasons of this decision.]

Snagged from Neogaf. It looks like Bioware is giving the big FU to PC gamers, and stripping out the overhead view from the PC version of Dragon Age II. So basically Dragon Age II is now more focused on being an action RPG, the strategic camera is eliminated, and no toolset will be released::

[Mag] Why did you leave/forsake the "a la Baldur's gate" view on PC of the first Dragon Age?[Mike Laidlaw]For budgetary reasons, we focused our work on a 3rd person view, that asks for very detailed and nice textures so that the player can admire the game with a close-up view. With an aerial view [isometric] we should cover much more ground and so create other textures. Now, the game mainly sold on console, so we're going the way of the audience"

[Mag] Will you release a toolset for DAO 2?[Mike Laidlaw] To be short, DAO 2 will not have a toolset. I think that DAO I toolset is very powerful but very complicated" [Then they speak of the fan made campaigns possibility for DAO 1 (too little time since last November to create full campaigns, it usually takes years (so only "simple" mods have been produced so far, but this is about DAO I and not DAO II). Once again, Mike Laidlaw does not give any detail on the reasons of this decision.]

There's been a dev followup. Basically, the toolset isn't changing enough to justify a new one and they are still deciding on whether they need to release an "update" to support the current toolset with this game. And the overhead view on the PC isn't going away, but it is changing and probably won't pull back as far, though you will still be able to move the camera around untethered to a character. So changes but not as bad as that article made it seem.

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.

faith failing, it feels like they are setting things up to be stripped.

Eh, I thought the response by the lead designer was reasonable. PC still gets a pulled back view option, even if it is changing. And no one has said modding the game won't happen. But if the reality is that the console version outsold the PC version by a significant margin, then you have to be realistic about what that means, which is that the series will continue with the console version taking precedent and the PC version getting less attention then was the case with the first game.

As someone who enjoys both types of RPGs that Bioware has recently been making, I'm not all that worried about Dragon Age shifting in the direction of being more console friendly.

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.

Snagged from Neogaf. It looks like Bioware is giving the big FU to PC gamers, and stripping out the overhead view from the PC version of Dragon Age II. So basically Dragon Age II is now more focused on being an action RPG, the strategic camera is eliminated, and no toolset will be released::

[Mag] Why did you leave/forsake the "a la Baldur's gate" view on PC of the first Dragon Age?[Mike Laidlaw]For budgetary reasons, we focused our work on a 3rd person view, that asks for very detailed and nice textures so that the player can admire the game with a close-up view. With an aerial view [isometric] we should cover much more ground and so create other textures. Now, the game mainly sold on console, so we're going the way of the audience"

[Mag] Will you release a toolset for DAO 2?[Mike Laidlaw] To be short, DAO 2 will not have a toolset. I think that DAO I toolset is very powerful but very complicated" [Then they speak of the fan made campaigns possibility for DAO 1 (too little time since last November to create full campaigns, it usually takes years (so only "simple" mods have been produced so far, but this is about DAO I and not DAO II). Once again, Mike Laidlaw does not give any detail on the reasons of this decision.]

And the overhead view on the PC isn't going away, but it is changing and probably won't pull back as far, though you will still be able to move the camera around untethered to a character. So changes but not as bad as that article made it seem.

Did he/she describe the changes? Isometric views aren't too useful if the camera doesn't pull back properly or far enough. I'm touchy on this subject because I used that camera angle often.

Did he/she describe the changes? Isometric views aren't too useful if the camera doesn't pull back properly or far enough. I'm touchy on this subject because I used that camera angle often.

Short answer is no. Here is the full comment by the lead designer in response to the blowup on the official forums over the French magazine piece.

Quote

Hey folks,

Victor managed to hunt me down, and I wanted to clear up a few things with regards to what I'm seeing as the two major concerns on this thread.

First off, let's talk about the toolset issue. Obviously in this community there's going to be some concern that we wouldn't release a toolset, so let me clear the air a little: The tools we're using to make Dragon Age 2 are very, very close to the tools you guys have used to make your mods for DA:O. They're not identical, as we've made a few in-house improvements, but they're almost identical. As such, there isn't a new toolset to release, per se.

While we won't be releasing a toolset update in tandem with Dragon Age 2, we ARE investigating what it would take to update the community toolset to match ours, along with providing DA2 content in the future.

As to the subject of tactical view, I can confirm that we will not be doing a tactical view on consoles, though we are looking into some expanded party control that I think will make console players quite happy.

On the PC, however, we are still working with the camera to keep the key elements of the tactical experience there. I was actually playtesting some new camera code when Victor found me, in fact, so I can give you the latest news on that front.

While we likely won't pull as far up as we did in DA:O, I have always felt that the key to tactical play was actually freeing your camera from the character you're controlling to issue precise orders, which is what we're tuning now. So, this means you can still maneuver the camera around the battlefield and issue orders from a remote location, just as you could in Origins.

As you can probably tell from my phrasing, all of this is a bit in-flux right now, so things may change between now and ship, but I wanted to update you guys on the current direction of things.

Mike..

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.

His reassurance isn't very reassuring. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Being able to move the camera freely and keeping "key elements" can be quite different from a true isometric view.

I think this post sums up the developer's comments well:

"None of what he has said here means anything in any direction. Let me see if I have this right:

Bioware's tools are not the same as the old tools, but they are not new tools. They aren't going to update the tools, but they're INVESTIGATING updating the tools. There's no "tactical view" in the console versions, but he doesn't say they will keep it in the PC version either, just that they'll keep the "tactical experience", and that it's not really a zoomed out view that helps with that, but free camera mode.

Nothing that he said contradicts anything from the interview. They just realized people were getting mad so he rushed out to say something that sounds like a reassurance without actually saying anything either way, and then says things are "in flux" so when the game comes out and it doesn't have the things PC gamers are asking for, his ass is covered."

true, it's a reasonable response plus it gives them enough wiggle room to say 'we never promised anything' to the PC community too

I could see that with the toolset, but I don't think they will abandon the detached/isometric on the PC version. After all, they've heavily promoted the differences in the combat between the two and it would make no sense to have the PC version have a different kind of combat but be stuck with the same camera.

My real beef with this isn't that they are changing things, its that they are not really being upfront about it. The GI article is clearly misleading on this issue of the camera in light of what they are now admitting to be changing. Bioware should have just been honest upfront.

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.

Time will tell, but the camera is one of the most important aspects of a gaming experience. And it is better for those...er...gaming nerds....to voice their displeasure now, instead of waiting until EA releases a product that cannot be changed. Maybe more nerd rage would have saved Deus Ex: Invisible War.

(yeah, I didn't really think so either.)

If EA is looking to bump those sales numbers, perhaps they should dismantle the inventory system, reduce the RPG elements, and make the camera third person. Call it Dragon Effect. They could even do a comic book-esque cross over, where Shepherd crash lands in Ferelden due to a wormhole mishap.

My real beef with this isn't that they are changing things, its that they are not really being upfront about it. The GI article is clearly misleading on this issue of the camera in light of what they are now admitting to be changing. Bioware should have just been honest upfront.

it's almost like EA is infecting them. damn MS for not buying them!

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Can we stop using the term "isometric view" please? It has nothing to do with what Dragon Age has been doing anyway. "Isometric" has a very specific meaning within 3D, and Dragon Age was never even close to satisfying its requirements. "Overhead view" is a much better way of describing it.

Anyway, I don't really see why they're going to limit the overhead view when it worked so well in the first game. They should be careful trying to make this game too much like Mass Effect.

Has there even been one complete module made yet for DA? I think these tools are too difficult for the average person and maybenot worth it. NWvault was a fantastic resource for NWN but they didn't even bother making a vault for DA.

Can we stop using the term "isometric view" please? It has nothing to do with what Dragon Age has been doing anyway. "Isometric" has a very specific meaning within 3D, and Dragon Age was never even close to satisfying its requirements. "Overhead view" is a much better way of describing it.

Good point, the terminologies should be correct. Especially since I'm the guy who always corrects my friends when they constantly misuse the word "Champagne" to describe practically any sparkling wine.

Morlac, I haven't seen any sales numbers for the PC. Bioware has stated that it sold well above expectations, but they never addressed what they had anticipated those sales would be.

Has there even been one complete module made yet for DA? I think these tools are too difficult for the average person and maybenot worth it. NWvault was a fantastic resource for NWN but they didn't even bother making a vault for DA.

no full modules yet but a lot of other helpful things, like fixing the damage bonus for certain weapons before the devs patched it and the storage locker in camp.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

"Now, the game mainly sold on console, so we're going the way of the audience"

Hmm. I thought it sold quite well on the PC? Anyone have any sales figures?

As always hard numbers are difficult to find. VGChartz claims the 360 version sold about 1.5m worldwide and the PS3 version about 900,000 worldwide. If those numbers are correct, that would mean the PC version sold about 800,000 copies, based on the official EA announcement of 3.2m copies "shipped."

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Roger: And you should know, I have no genitals.Syndey: That's alright. I have both.